REDMOND, Wash. (CBS Seattle) – A study investigating the quality of the results offered by various search engines found that Bing leads users to the largest number of contaminated, or “poisoned,” websites.

The study defined poisoned websites as ones where search engine optimization terms are used to lure unsuspecting Internet users to dangerous web addresses that expose computers to viruses.

Bing, owned and operated by Microsoft Corporation whose headquarters are in Redmond, Wash., produced search results involving more poisoned websites than any other search engine, according to SBWire.

Researchers at SpohoLabs tested Bing and other search engines for a reported two weeks, taking notes on incidents involving malware and redirections. Their research found that 65 percent of all redirects occurred on Bing. Of those redirects, 92 percent came from image search results, and the other 8 percent came from text-based searches, the website learned.

Researchers recommended checking the validity of a website before clicking a link, activating anti-virus hardware at all times, and using your browser filter options to protect your computer.